China commemorates Wenchuan earthquake victims 15 years on
Beijing, May 12 (EFE).- Chinese state media and social media users were commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, which caused the death of more than 69,000 people and the disappearance of some 18,000.
On China’s microblogging site Weibo, the hashtag #5121428, which refers to the time of the magnitude 8 earthquake (14:28 on May 12), was posted 178,000 times as of Friday afternoon and had 410 million views.
Douyin, as TikTok is known in China, established a digital chapel to honor the deceased in which more than 230,000 users had deposited virtual candles.
“Fifteen years have passed, but I still cry when I see the images. That day, some left and others stayed with us. Let us remember the children of Beichuan (the most affected area) and the mothers and teachers who used their bodies to protect them,” one Weibo user wrote.
The tremor hit rural schools and colleges, some of them built with defective materials and were not prepared for an earthquake such as the one in 2008.
Many remembered the moment of the incident.
“I was still in high school and a teacher came to stop the class and inform us, it was very sad,” one user wrote.
Others highlighted the popular mobilization in aid of Wenchuan and its province, Sichuan, which saw thousands of volunteers helping the affected areas to help in the rescue and the massive collection of funds, in which film stars, politicians, and overseas Chinese communities contributed.
Official media paid tribute to members of rescue forces who went to the areas affected by the earthquake, and spoke of the “rebirth” of the hardest-hit areas and the stories of some affected children who lost limbs but achieved successful careers in fields such as sports or fashion in their adult lives.
On the anniversary of the tragedy, the people of Sichuan suffered a reminder of the intense seismic activity of the region in which they live: at 2:34 a.m. on Friday (18:34 GMT on Thursday.)
Luding county registered a magnitude 4.5 earthquake, which was followed by three less intense aftershocks, without causing damage beyond rock falls on some roads, the China Seismological Network Center reported Friday.
An earthquake in the province of magnitude 6.8 left 93 dead and 24 missing in September. EFE
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